MUMBAI: Indian office markets continue to be amongst the most affordable and attractive in the world for occupiers as occupancy costs per workstation are one of the lowest. Hong Kong is the most expensive office space location globally in terms of workstation costs of $27,431 per annum, while Mumbai ranks at 163 with cost of $3,166 per workstation annually in Bandra-Kurla Complex, showed a Cushman & Wakefield report.

According to the data for 215 global office markets, Delhi - National Capital Region ranks at 84th, Bangalore at 213th and Hyderabad at 214th position indicating globally competitive pricing as compared talent available.

In India, Delhi - NCR has emerged as the most expensive office location costing nearly Rs 430 per sq ft a month per workstation taking the cost of each workstation to over Rs 350,000 annually. Rest of the India office markets ranked below 100th position, making them one of the most affordable in the world.

“Indian office spaces are competitive globally in terms price, design and desk space. This coupled with strong talent pool, provides for a winning combination for entry and expansion of global companies in India. Our office space absorption is largely led by the services sector with IT-BPM making close to 50% of total office space requirements,” Anshul Jain, Country Head & Managing Director, India, Cushman & Wakefield. “Added to this, the growing trend of Start – ups in India, has been contributing in creating employment as well as office absorption. Both these phenomena benefit greatly because of lower office space costs.”

Hong Kong has topped the list of the most expensive office locations in the world. For the same cost of accommodating 100 staff in a Hong Kong office, 300 can be accommodated in Toronto, 500 in Madrid and 900 in Mumbai.

Hong Kong was followed by London and then Tokyo. The report evaluates 215 global prime office markets in each city and ranks their occupancy costs per workstation including base rents and common area maintenance charges and workplace densities for newly developed or refurbished office space globally.

Gurgaon CBD, the other major office market in Delhi – NCR, is currently at Rs 120 per sq ft with each workstation space costing Rs 100,800 per annum ($1,549). This location, while having a vacancy of below 5% has been high on demand. The rentals have gone up by nearly 45% since 2013 on account of consistent demand from IT/ ITeS and other sectors.

Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) was the second most expensive location for rental costs of over Rs 200,000 per annum per workstation with each workstation occupied at monthly rentals of Rs 277 per sq ft a month.

Bengaluru, which is the largest office space market by volume of absorption in India was ranked at a global 213 out of 215 destinations with workspaces costing Rs 75,000 per workstation annually.

Hyderabad that ranked 214th globally and 7th in India and Ahmedabad with its 215th position globally and 8th in India made up the last two spots in the global as well as the Indian ranking table with the average annual workstation costing Rs 57,000 and Rs 40,000 respectively.